Check It Out: Spock would describe recent happenings as “highly illogical”
By Joan Janzen
If you’re a Star Trek fan, you may recall Spock raising his eyebrows and describing the actions of the native inhabitants of planet Omega IV as “highly illogical.” The phrase would be repeated in subsequent films and is also a fitting description of what’s happening in Canada.
Canadian taxpayers have witnessed the federal bureaucracy increase year after year, while almost half of their income goes towards taxes, which finance our growing government. To put it in perspective, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) noted the amount the government spent on federal bureaucracy last year is equivalent to three times the entire budget of Saskatchewan.
However, it looks like the government is attempting to remedy the situation. The Canada Minute newsletter reported over 10,000 federal public servants received notice in January that the government plans to cut 28,000 positions over the next four years across twelve departments. Unions warned the reductions will affect essential services, causing longer wait times and weaker programs. But according to information provided by the CTF, this may not be true.
Franco Terrazzano from CTF gave the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) as an example. The CRA added 13,015 employees since 2016, a 33 percent increase. Nevertheless, the Auditor General’s report said the CRA gave the correct answer about personal tax questions 17 percent of the time and that only one-third of Canadians who phoned the CRA actually got through to a live agent.
Furthermore, the CTF reports there are seven federal departments and agencies that have more than doubled their number of employees since 2016. Employment and Social Development Canada added the most employees, which amounted to 16,842 additional employees since 2016—a 75 per cent increase.
Meanwhile, unions are demanding the government explain why experienced public servants are facing workforce reductions as outsourcing spending reaches record highs. However, increased outsourcing spending is not a new expenditure. Let’s take a look.
The CTF reported that even though the cost of the federal bureaucracy increased 80 percent in the past ten years (from $39.6 billion in 2015 to $71.4 billion in 2025), the government also spent an additional $23.1 billion on outsourcing services in 2025. That cost includes the services of consultants and contractors, which increased 11 percent over the previous year. In fact, Franco said the cost of outsourcing spending more than doubled during the past ten years.
While unions claim staff reductions will cause weaker programs, Franco made an observation that proves otherwise. “The government actually tracks government performance; you can find it online,” he said on a CTF podcast. “Over the last five years, they only met half of their own performance targets three times. They met less than 54 percent of their own performance targets in their best year.”
However, records show those same employees are rewarded for their poor performance, since the government approved $406 million in bonuses in 2023–2024.
When Canadians were asked by Leger, a national polling firm, if they thought federal services improved since 2015, fifty-four percent of Canadians said services have gotten worse since 2015.
“That says to me that adding more bureaucrats doesn’t improve services,” he concluded.
In an attempt to remedy the situation, the government departments are offering early retirement without incurring a pension penalty. An article in the National Post delved into the early retirement offers. The headline reads: “Plan to reduce civil service will cost $1.5 billion to cut payroll by just $82 million.”
The article reads, “According to federal budget documents, the proposed early retirement incentive will cost an average of $300 million for five years, all to deliver ongoing savings of $82 million annually.” The article continues to say, “It wouldn’t be until 2044 that the expected savings from the incentive would match the cost of making them.”
Ryan Davies, host of Northern Perspective, made the following observation. “So if you’re paying public servants to leave on top of what they normally get, and it’s going to take almost 20 years to get the savings back, what’s the point? If you’re going to cut them, then cut them.”
Franco from CTF voiced a similar observation. “The promise in the last budget is that in a couple of years Ottawa’s headcount will be brought down to what it was at the end of 2021, during the heart of the pandemic spending spree,” he explained. “If bureaucrats are cut by 10 percent while bonuses and costs continue to go up, by 2028 it will still cost taxpayers about $3 billion more than the bureaucracy cost in 2022, even after adjusting for inflation.”
Meanwhile, Canadians realize that the 99,000 additional employees added to the federal government during the past ten years doesn’t mean taxpayers are receiving better service.
“You’re not really saving money if it’s costing you money to send these people on their way,” Ryan said. “If the point is to save taxpayer money, then save taxpayer money. Otherwise, there’s no point to it.”
Or as Spock would say, “highly illogical.”